Compared with White Americans, African Americans exhibit lower
levels of trust in government. However, there is a dearth of research
that seeks to explain that group's level of political trust.
Employing data taken from the 1996 National Black Election Study, this
research examines three explanations to test how psychological
involvement, policy satisfaction, and reference group influence
political trust among African Americans. The results show support for
each of the models as important factors in explaining African
Americans' trust in government.

Political trust is defined in the literature as a summary of both
negative and positive evaluations of the government in Washington, D.C.
(1) It reflects the perception of how well the federal government is
performing based upon expectations, which involves, to some degree,
trust in public officials who serve in government, as well as both the
system and process of government. One must be careful to understand the
concept of political trust as a more narrow term, however, and not
conflate it with other terms. Political trust is mainly concerned with
expectations and their relationship to the outcomes of government's
actions. Oftentimes, when speaking more specifically about trust in
certain public officials, congressional or presidential approval ratings
would be a more suitable measurement of that trust. If the focus is on
the system or process of government, then system or process support
would be a more appropriate measure of trust. Lastly, political trust
does not refer to trust in political parties, for that would be subsumed
by party identification.

Most research suggests that political trust is composed primarily
of evaluations of public officials, political institutions, and
satisfaction with public policies. (2) The conventional wisdom
concerning political trust is that as conditions improve for the nation,
trust in government increases. Conversely, as Arthur Miller, a professor
emeritus of political science at the University of Iowa, argues, low
levels of trust indicate dissatisfaction with the political system. (3)
Jack Citrin, a professor of political science at the University of
California-Berkeley, adds that low levels of political trust are the
result of poor evaluations the public assigns incumbents and their
policies. (4)

Americans have become more distrusting of government since the
1970s. (5) African Americans trust government less than whites, which
can best be explained by the history of racism and discrimination in the
United States. The American South, the home of Jim Crow laws and
numerous efforts to subvert the African-American vote, has been a
bastion of racial hatred toward African Americans. (6) Moreover, racial
segregation remains prevalent in the country, and many bemoan the
educational, economic, social, and justice systems as being anti-African
American. (7)

Extant scholarship on political trust confirms that African
Americans have less of it than whites. (8) However, these studies offer
limited theoretical justifications for African Americans' distrust
of government beyond speculating, typically without empirical evidence,
that it is rooted in their experiences with racial discrimination. While
plausible, this explanation does not take into account other factors
that may explain lower levels of political trust among African
Americans. This study offers several tests of models in an effort to
explain political trust among African Americans. In doing so, it
attempts to fill a gap in the literature. Other works have addressed why
African Americans do not trust government, but without systematic
analyses. By and large, they ignore African Americans or conclude the
opposite of their findings on political trust among White Americans.
Research on African-Americans' political trust chiefly promotes the
roles of descriptive representation (shared social characteristics)
rather than actual living experience, and substantive representation
(shared policy interests) instead of policy and governmental evaluations
in affecting African-Americans' political trust. (9) Therefore,
testing other explanations is warranted. Regardless of the fact that
African Americans are no longer members of the largest racial minority
group in the United States, they remain the most cohesive voting bloc in
American politics. (10) Thus, learning what drives their level of
political trust merits investigation.

Normatively, by studying explanations of political trust among
African Americans, political science gains further insight into
understanding trust among Americans who possess unique historical and
political experiences. Trust in government is an important element for
any democracy. (11) For democracy's sake, it behooves political
scientists to disentangle attitudes that potentially obstruct some
Americans' opportunity to participate in the democratic process,
and, more pertinently, that prevent the political system from
functioning properly. Political trust affects both obedience to law (12)
and support for public policies. (13)

More fitting for the purpose of this study, James Avery, an
associate professor of political science at Richard Stockton College,
examines the relationship between political trust among African
Americans and their participation in politics. He suggests that there
are more meaningful and fundamental factors that shape political trust
among African Americans. Political trust, he contends, has different
effects on African-Americans' political participation than it does
on whites. Consequently, African Americans participate in the political
process due to different stimuli. (14) The same reasoning guides this
study, which posits that political trust among African Americans should
be shaped by factors that are based primarily on their historical
experiences, racial consciousness, and social engagement in American
society.

This study provides explanations of political trust among African
Americans utilizing data taken from the 1996 National Black Election
Study in an effort to develop three explanatory models. (15) First, the
Psychological Involvement Model captures the effects of individual
efficacy, group efficacy, political ideology, and party identification.
One's perception of being deprived of political efficacy may
undermine his/her trust in government. If one's reluctance to
participate in the political process when he/she feels ineffective is
logical, then it is equally plausible that this individual will distrust
that process because he/ she believes that they are unable to effect
change because they find government unresponsive to their concerns. In
addition, group efficacy is examined given political scientist Maruice
Mangum's finding that African Americans are more inclined to
participate in politics due to group, rather than individual, efficacy.
(16) Generally speaking, it is expected that liberal African Americans
would trust the government in Washington, D.C. more than their
conservative counterparts because of the former group's greater
desire for governmental activism to remedy social ills. It is also
anticipated that African-American Democrats should demonstrate greater
trust in the federal government than African-American Republicans
because the Democratic Party has used government more than the
Republican Party to benefit African Americans in recent years. Here, an
important distinction is made between the federal government and the
state government. Southern state governments, under the guise of
states' rights, have enacted laws to restrict the freedoms and
liberties of racial minorities (i.e., Jim Crow laws). The federal
government has protected the rights of those minorities against these
unconstitutional policies adopted by state governments (e.g., the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Therefore, it is
logical to presume that liberal African Americans and African-American
Democrats will trust the federal government more than African Americans
affiliated with the Republican Party.

Second, the Policy Satisfaction Model seeks to determine whether
trust in government among African Americans might be influenced by their
level of policy satisfaction. Given the importance of the issue of race
to African Americans, (17) policy satisfaction regarding racial progress
is tested. Rather than simply focus on generic perceptions of how well
the government is doing to improve the economic well-being of the
nation, this study explores matters of greater concern to African
Americans, namely, government's performance on enacting and
enforcing measures concerning race.

Third, the Reference Group Model is constructed to explain whether
or not the lack of descriptive representation affects political trust
among African Americans. Because government is composed of individuals
and groups who are not African American, descriptive representation is
lacking. To account for the affinity African Americans have demonstrated
toward the racial makeup of individuals and groups in government, this
study explores the level of affection African Americans show toward
whites, Democrats, and Republicans. Additionally, the desire, or lack
thereof, to integrate with others may influence African American trust
in government. Again, the experiences of African Americans are
hypothesized to have effects on their level of political trust. Inasmuch
as descriptive representation matters, it might have a reverse effect
too. Descriptive representation influences political trust positively.
African Americans who are represented by fellow African Americans are
likely to exhibit more political trust than those who are represented
descriptively. However, given the lack of descriptive representation
afforded most African Americans, it is not likely that descriptive
representation can be the driving force that determines political trust.
In its stead, a lack of descriptive representation is the norm and
should be measured. Therefore, to account for a lack of descriptive
representation, an acceptable proxy is used to account for affect toward
whites.

Theoretical Perspectives

Psychological Involvement

For some segments of the population, helplessness may produce a
negative orientation toward government because those who comprise those
portions of the population lack the political influence necessary to
bring about desired changes through conventional political means. (18)
Lacking a voice in, or some control over, the decision-making process
causes people to become skeptical about political outcomes. Citizens who
believe that they lack a voice or some level of control in the political
process are likely to distrust government; those who believe the
opposite will likely trust government. Such feelings of powerlessness or
the lack of political efficacy would lead to a distrust of government.
Citizens will distrust government if it is perceived as unresponsive to
their concerns and they believe that they are incapable of changing
political circumstances. When shut out of the political system or
decision-making process, people become suspicious of the
decision-makers. African Americans have a history of being
disenfranchised. They have experienced a number of setbacks in their
efforts to acquire full rights of citizenship through their preference
for representation by African Americans and policies that achieve
economic, political, and social equality among whites and African
Americans. Since feelings of political efficacy play a large part in
African-American political behavior, (19) one can expect that this will
have an impact on that group's level of political trust.

Political efficacy refers to an individual's effectiveness in
changing government (internal efficacy) and government's
responsiveness (external efficacy) toward such efforts. For African
Americans, political efficacy might also take on a group component.
Given their strong allegiance to one another, (20) political efficacy
among African Americans is not conceptualized simply as an individual
orientation, but also includes the perception of the African American
population's influence on government and government's
responsiveness to racial concerns. African Americans who are efficacious
politically will trust government more than those who are not. Based on
Mangum's finding of a group political efficacy dimension among
African Americans, individual efficacy and group efficacy should be
related positively to political trust. (21)

One can also expect political ideology to play a role in shaping
African American trust in government. A preferred role for government is
a reflection of trust. Conservatives prefer a more limited role for
government and see its expansion as a threat to liberty. By contrast,
liberals favor an expanded role for government, particularly to advance
economic and social equality. (22) Liberals are less suspicious of
government than conservatives philosophically. Using data from the
Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, liberals have demonstrated
greater trust toward the national government than conservatives. These
findings lead to the expectation that African-American liberals will be
more trusting of government than African-American conservatives. In
other words, if, in general, liberals are more trusting of government
than conservatives (perhaps because they are less suspicious of
government), then among African Americans, liberals should be more
trusting of government than conservatives. (23)

The federal government has not always been viewed as an enemy of
African Americans or their interests. At certain times in American
history, it has declared a war on poverty and discrimination, thereby
politicizing the goals of economic and social equality. (24) Over most
of the twentieth century, the federal government increased its role in
ensuring the welfare of African Americans. Since the 1930s, the
Democratic Party has provided African Americans economic incentives,
causing many to abandon their prior allegiance to the Republican Party.
(25) Beginning in the 1960s, the Democratic Party became the party of
racial fairness, championing equality and defending the have-nots. It
has also been more supportive of governmental intervention in promoting
and funding social programs and protecting civil rights. (26) Meanwhile,
the Republican Party became racially intolerant, opposing social
programs and civil rights legislation, thus offering a less attractive
political alternative for African Americans. (27) Since the Democratic
Party has been more active than the Republican Party in promoting the
welfare of African Americans, African-American Democrats should be more
trusting of the federal government than African-American Republicans.

Policy Satisfaction

Elected officials and political institutions are trusted based on
their ability to solve problems and advance important goals. (28)
Several studies show that the degree to which citizens are satisfied
with the policy outputs of government is linked to their level of
political trust. (29) If they believe that government enacts policies
that they favor, then they should be more likely to trust government
than those citizens who believe that government is not pursuing policies
they favor. Other studies suggest that government's ability to
handle problems important to respondents in national surveys does
increase their level of trust in government. (30) Citizens who believe
that the policies produced by government are effective or consistent
with their expectations trust government more than those who disagree
with or dislike government's outputs. (31) Political scientists
Arthur H. Miller and Stephen Borrelli find that the more apart on the
issues respondents were from the national government, the less trusting
they were of that government. (32) Likewise, Miller shows that Americans
who were disapproving of the policies of both major parties were the
least trusting of government. (33)

Political trust connotes policy satisfaction. If people perceive
that government is operating effectively and in their favor, then they
are more likely to trust it. For African Americans, dealing with
discrimination is important policy. Consequently, government's
ability or willingness to address this problem should impact African
Americans' trust in government. The assumption here is that if
African Americans perceive that progress has been made toward ending
discrimination, then they will trust government. Conversely, if they
sense that little has been accomplished toward that goal, then they will
not trust government.

Usually, policy approval or comparisons of the policy positions of
respondents with the policy positions of where respondents believe that
elected officials are located would be used to measure policy
satisfaction. However, it may not be particular issues that make
citizens more or less trusting of government, but rather an assortment
of issues or an overall impression of satisfaction with government
outputs. For this analysis, in addition to the belief that there has
been progress in reducing discrimination, the perception of how hard the
political parties work on issues important to African Americans should
influence political trust. If African Americans believe that one or both
major political parties work hard on issues important to them, then
their level of political trust will increase. On the flip side, if
African Americans believe that neither party is working hard to address
issues that concern them, then they will distrust government.

Reference Group

Reference-group theory is used to explain political trust among
African Americans as an alternative to the political-reality model. The
latter model posits that African Americans distrust government because
political leaders tend to be white, which leads to better treatment for
whites. This lack of descriptive representation reduces the ability of
African Americans to influence political leaders. The focus of the
political-reality model is descriptive representation. What does the
lack of descriptive representation mean for political trust? Given the
amount of descriptive representation for African Americans at the
national level of government, the actual political reality is their lack
of descriptive representation. If an African American does not belong to
the same race as his/her elected official(s), what does he/she use as a
cue? Like descriptive representation and the political-reality model,
African Americans use a likeability heuristic. But unlike descriptive
representation and the political-reality model, this study suggests that
it is in reference to other groups in society that make up government.
Government is composed of African Americans, White Americans, Democrats,
and Republicans, to name a few. Therefore, accounting for affect toward
these groups is important in determining African-American political
trust.

Reference groups and group differences impact political attitudes.
(34) If reference-group theory has any import, then attitudes that
African Americans have toward other social groups should influence their
level of political trust. If people like a social group and associate
that group with government, then they should evaluate government more
positively If they dislike the group associated with government, then
they will evaluate government more negatively.

When African Americans use race as a cue or heuristic for
determining their level of trust in government, they might first think
about whether they share the same race as the incumbent or the race of
most of the people in a given institution. Political scientists E Glenn
Abney and John D. Hutcheson, Jr., state that conventional wisdom
explains rioting by African Americans in the 1960s as the product of a
lack of government positions held by African Americans, which bred
political cynicism. (35) Fellow political scientist William T. Bianco
reaffirms this claim when he posits that descriptive representation
fosters political trust. (36) By contrast, a lack of descriptive
representation produces political distrust.

This study argues that racial attitudes are related to political
trust. Race is a factor in determining trust and comfort. The absence of
African-American representation in government stirs mistrust in
government. According to Jane Mansbridge, a professor of government at
Harvard University, descriptive representation makes one feel a part of
the polity, for there is easier communication with the representative
and a belief that his/her interests are being addressed. (37) However,
African Americans are not receiving descriptive representation. Whereas
whites are overrepresented in all institutions and levels of government,
African Americans are underrepresented at all levels of government and
in all political institutions. If race is among one's first
considerations when he/she thinks about trusting government, then
African Americans must confront their lack of descriptive representation
in government. They must come to grips with the fact that there are so
many more whites than African Americans in government, and, thus, most
will see only whites in office. If part of the decision calculus is to
consider affect, then it would include feelings toward groups that serve
in government aside from African Americans. Consequently, capturing the
effects of group affect or identification with groups other than African
Americans is imperative. For the purpose of this study, trust in
government might also be informed by affect toward blacks, whites,
Democrats, and Republicans. African Americans who have warm feelings
toward fellow African Americans will distrust government. In other
words, in the absence of descriptive representation, a shared
perspective will lead to distrust in government. African Americans who
have warm feelings toward whites, Democrats, and Republicans will trust
government. The desire to separate from whites will impact African
American trust in government inversely, but like affect toward whites,
the desire to integrate with whites will influence trust in government
in a positive direction.

Data and Methods

This investigation utilizes data from the 1996 National Black
Election Study (NBES). (38) It is the most important and most recent
data set available that covers a national sample of African Americans.
While this survey was conducted over two decades ago, it remains
instrumental for understanding African-American politics and it is still
being used in current studies that examine the political behavior of
African Americans. (39) The 1996 NBES is a phone survey focusing on the
political attitudes and preferences of African Americans. It
incorporates a unique set of questions and covers a large number of
topics of particular concern to African Americans. (40) It uses
random-digit dialing to select African Americans to participate in a
survey conducted during the presidential election of 1996. Respondents
were included in the survey if they were African American and
eighteen-years-old by Election Day.

The 1996 NBES is an excellent source for analyzing African-American
political trust for two important reasons. First, it asks respondents
questions more suited to African Americans than does either the American
National Election Study or the General Social Survey. (41) For instance,
the 1996 NBES asks questions centering on group political efficacy,
racial discrimination, and perceived efforts by the two major parties to
provide African Americans with substantive representation. Second, it
does not suffer from the same limitation of many other data sets,
namely, a small African-American sample size. This data set has a large
number of African-American respondents (N = 1,216). Therefore, the 1996
NBES is an important methodological improvement to offset the problem of
having a small-N of African-American respondents, as is the case
regarding both the American National Election Study and General Social
Survey series, which makes estimation and analysis unreliable.

Dependent Variable

The dependent variable, Trust in Government, is the standard trust
question found in all scholarship on political trust. The question
operationalizing political trust is: "How much of the time do you
think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is
right-just about always, most of the time, or only some of the
time?" The question allows for four choices. Given the limited
number of response choices, Ordered Probit is the method used to test
the hypotheses of this study. According to the data, 24 respondents (2%)
declared that one can "never" trust government; 601 (49.4%)
answered "some of the time"; 192 (15.8%) replied that
government can be trusted "most of the time"; and only 31
(2.5%) trusted government "just about always." (42)
Descriptions of each model are provided below. The Appendix describes
all variables, their hypothesized direction, question wording, and
coding stratagem.

Psychological Involvement

The Psychological Involvement Model captures the effects of
political efficacy, political ideology, and party identification. It is
made up of the two efficacy-factor dimensions as shown in Table 1:
political ideology and party identification. Individual Efficacy is a
factor dimension that measures three beliefs: (1) whether public
officials care about people like the respondent; (2) whether people like
the respondent have a say in what government does; and, (3) whether
politics and government seem too complicated for people like the
respondent. Group Efficacy is a factor dimension that measures three
beliefs: (1) whether enough African Americans vote so that they can
determine who is elected president; (2) whether African Americans can
influence the outcomes of congressional elections; and, (3) whether
minority groups, the poor, and women banded together can affect the
operation of the country. Political Ideology and Party Identification
are self-identified responses to the standard political ideology and
party identification questions.

Policy Satisfaction

The Policy Satisfaction Model accounts for satisfaction in dealing
with discrimination and policy responsiveness by the two major political
parties. African Americans' level of satisfaction concerning
efforts to eliminate discrimination in American society is captured by
Racial Discrimination. The two variables that measure the major
parties' efforts to tackle issues important to African Americans
are Black Issues Democrat (how much the respondent believes that the
Democratic Party works on issues that concern blacks), and Black Issues
Republican (how much the respondent believes the Republican Party works
on issues that concern blacks).

Reference Group

The Reference Group Model uses thermometer scales to measure affect
toward reference groups: African Americans (Blacks Thermometer), White
Americans (Whites Thermometer), Democrats (Democrats Thermometer), and
Republicans (Republicans Thermometer). This model focuses on affect and
likeability, particularly given the limited number of African-American
elected officials. A feeling thermometer is a way of gauging how much
the respondent likes or dislikes the object in question. It ranges on a
scale from 0 to 100, indicating the degree of great dislike (0) to love
(100). A score of 50 signifies neutrality on the affinity scale. The
variable Racial Integration measures the effects of affect and
likeability as well as opinion regarding the importance of integrating
with whites.

Empirical Analysis

Table 2 reports the outcomes of the Ordered Probit analyses for the
respective models. Displayed in each table are the independent
variables' coefficients, indication of statistical significance,
and standard errors in parentheses. The table also reports the sample
size and Pseudo [R.sup.2]. In parentheses next to each independent
variable is its hypothesized direction. Unreported in each model are the
controls (demographic variables) so as to save space and avoid
redundancy.

Psychological Involvement Model

The Ordered Probit findings of the Psychological Involvement Model
are listed in Column 1 of Table 2. It is clear from these results that
psychological involvement helps to explain political trust. The more
efficacious African Americans were, the more they trusted government.
Due to the coding scheme, Individual Efficacy was related negatively
with trust in government. This variable was interpreted to mean that the
more efficacious the individual African American, the more he/she
trusted government. The same finding applies to the Group Efficacy
variable: the more efficacious African Americans believed their race to
be, the more trust they had in government. As expected, African-American
Democrats were more trusting of government than African-American
Republicans. The desire for government involvement in solving societal
problems led to greater trust. Oddly, political ideology did not matter.
It may be the case that the Party Identification variable incorporated
some effects of the Political Ideology variable, rendering it
insignificant, or it could simply be that whether one is a liberal or
conservative does not affect political trust among African Americans.

Policy Satisfaction Model

The results of the Ordered Probit analysis for the Policy
Satisfaction Model are listed in Column 2 of Table 2. They show that
substantive representation is significant when explaining the political
trust of African Americans. Clearly, the results suggest that efforts to
end discrimination and to work on issues important to African Americans
fostered trust in government. All three variables in this model were
significant and positive. African Americans who believed that there has
been much progress in eliminating discrimination trusted government. The
more African Americans believed that the Democratic Party and the
Republican Party worked hard on issues of concern to them, the more they
trusted government.

Reference Group Model

The outcome of the Ordered Probit analysis for the Reference Group
Model can be found in Column 3 of Table 2. As anticipated, affect or
likeability toward specific groups influenced African Americans'
trust in government. African Americans who liked other African Americans
distrusted government. Since government includes several groups not
classified as African American that occupy positions in government, the
lack of descriptive representation is as important as its presence. Here
one finds that African Americans who expressed warm feelings toward
whites, Democrats, and Republicans trusted government more than African
Americans who reported cool feelings toward these groups. Similarly, the
more African Americans valued racial integration, the more they trusted
government.

Summary and Conclusions

The purpose of this study is to address a major limitation in our
understanding of trust in government, namely, the lack of attention in
explaining trust in government among African Americans. Toward that end,
this study developed and tested hypotheses better suited for African
Americans beyond borrowing from and revising theories in the extant
literature. Another criticism of political trust literature is that
those who try to explain trust in government among African Americans
have done so with too narrow a focus. This investigation broadened the
lens of examination. Using Ordered Probit to analyze data from the 1996
National Black Election Study, this study accounts more fully for
African Americans' trust in government.

The models constructed here yield several findings. First, the
Psychological Involvement Model demonstrates that African
Americans' trust in government varies with individual efficacy,
group efficacy, political ideology, and party identification. Second,
the Policy Satisfaction Model proves that African Americans trust
government when they believe that discrimination is being dealt with and
that the two major political parties are working hard on their behalf.
Third, the Reference Group Model shows that African Americans'
affect toward social groups and their reluctance or willingness to
integrate influence their trust in government.

This study is important in that it allows for a comparison of
findings obtained here on African Americans with those in the extant
literature regarding White Americans. From this analysis, one gains
several insights regarding political trust among the two races. First,
psychological factors are of great import to both groups. Since
political trust is a psychological orientation, it is understandable
that other psychological orientations are related. Second, race is a
very important dimension in determining political trust among African
Americans, more so than among White Americans. Race matters in
determining African Americans' trust in government because, whether
it is efficacy, policy satisfaction, or affect toward other groups, race
lies at the heart of their evaluation of government. Third, like White
Americans, African-American social capital and interracial affect
determine trust. Positive attitudes toward members of a different race
and willingness to interact with whites make it increasingly possible
for African Americans to trust government, even if it is composed mostly
of non-African Americans. Fourth, while African Americans are not
monolithic, they are nearly monolithic when it comes to political trust,
as is the case in other areas of psychological involvement (e.g.,
political ideology and party identification). In short, there appears to
be a psychological tie that binds African Americans on the issue of
political trust.

This study provides some direction for future research. First,
scholars should continue to investigate the impact of efficacy on trust.
Second, additional research is needed to determine whether African
Americans' policy satisfaction is based solely on race or on other
policies. Third, future analyses should seek to ascertain whether
negative interaction with other racial groups thwarts political trust
among African Americans. Lastly, an investigation of how President
Barack Obama's election may have influenced African-American trust
in government is warranted. His presence in the White House is likely to
have boosted political trust among African Americans. While there is no
data yet to test this claim, it stands to reason that if more
descriptive representation leads to greater political trust, then
political trust among African Americans increased when Obama won the
presidential election in 2008. Also, it is likely that their trust in
government increased because a Democrat was elected president. However,
as his presidency has unfolded, some African Americans may have come to
trust government less because of President Obama's reluctance to
have a national conversation on race, and his unwillingness or inability
to develop policies that target African Americans as beneficiaries
(i.e., employment programs). Still, African Americans support this
president more than any other social group. Once data becomes available,
an empirical analysis is called for to determine how the election of
President Obama and his policies have affected African-American trust in
government.

(2) For overviews of research on political trust, see Avery,
"The Sources and Consequences of Political Mistrust among African
Americans," 655-82; Avery, "Political Mistrust among African
Americans," 132-45.

(22) Rudolph and Evans, "Political Trust, Ideology, and Public
Support for Government Spending," 660-71.

(23) Rahn and Rudolph, "Trust in Local Governments," in
Understanding Public Opinion, eds. Norrander and Wilcox, 281-300. The
Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey is a massive national survey
of American civic engagement conducted by Harvard University in 2001.

(31) Hetherington, "The Political Relevance of Political
Trust," 791-808; Miller, "Political Issues and Trust in
Government: 1964-1970," 951-72; Owen and Dennis, "Trust in
Federal Government," in What is" It about Government that
Americans Dislike? eds. Hibbing and Theiss-Morse, 209-26.

(39) Avery, "The Sources and Consequences of Political
Mistrust among African Americans," 655-82; Avery, "Political
Mistrust among African Americans," 132-45; Maruice Mangum,
"Explaining Political Trust among African Americans: Examining
Demographic, Media, and Social Capital and Social Network Effects,
Social Science Journal 48, no. 4 (2011):589-96; Maruice Mangum,
"Party Competence Perceptions and the Party Identification of
African Americans," Party Politics (forthcoming).

(40) Some of the questions in the 1996 NBES Study include:
"How often did you find yourself feeling a sense of pride as a
Black person in the accomplishments of Black people?"; "How
often do you find yourself feeling about the way Black people are
treated in society?"; and, "What happens to Black people in
this country has a lot to do with what happens to me."

(41) The American National Elections Study (ANES) is a series of
national public opinion surveys conducted by the University of Michigan.
The ANES supplies data on public opinion and political participation,
which enables scholars to better understand theoretical and empirical
economic, political, and social phenomena. The General Social Survey
(GSS) is a series of national public opinion surveys conducted by the
University of Chicago. The GSS provides data on American trends in
attitudes, attributes, and behaviors to compare American society with
other societies around the world. It is among the most utilized sources
of data in the social sciences.

MARUICE MANGUM is an Associate Professor of Political Science at
Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.

Appendix: Description of Variables Used in Analysis of Political
Trust
Dependent Variable
Trust in Government "How much of the time do you think you
can trust the government in Washington
to do what is right just about always,
most of the time, or only some of the
time?" 1 = never; 2 = only some of the
time; 3 = most of the time; 4 = just
about always.
Independent Variables
Age (+) Age in years, ranging from 17-90.
South (+) 1 = South; 0 = Non-South. Southern
states include: Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,
and West Virginia.
Education (-) 1 = grade school (grades 1-8); 2 = some
high school, no degree (grades 9-12); 3
= high school degree; 4 = some college,
no degree; 5 = Associate's/2-year
degree, Bachelor's/4-year degree; 6 =
some graduate school, Master's degree,
doctorate/law degree.
Family Income (+) Combined income of all members of your
family living with respondent for 1995
before taxes. Range: 1 (up to $10,000)
to 11 ($105,000 and above).
Social Class (+) "People talk about social classes such
as the poor, the working class, the
middle class, the upper-middle class,
and the upper class. Which of these
classes would you say you belong to?" 1
= poor; 2 = working class; 3 = middle
class; 4 = upper-middle class; 5
= upper class.
Gender (-) 1 = female; 0 = male.
Married (+) 1 = married; 0 = not married.
Individual Efficacy (-) "Public officials don't care much what
people like me think." 1 = disagree
strongly; 2 = disagree somewhat; 3 =
neither agree nor disagree; 4 = agree
somewhat; 5 = agree strongly. "People
like me don't have any say about what
the government does." 1 = disagree
strongly; 2 = disagree somewhat; 3 =
neither agree nor disagree; 4 = agree
somewhat; 5 = agree strongly.
"Sometimes politics and government seem
to be so complicated that a person like
me can't really understand what's
going on." 1 = disagree strongly; 2 =
disagree somewhat; 3 = neither agree
nor disagree; 4 = agree somewhat; 5 =
agree strongly.
Group Efficacy (+) "If enough Blacks vote, they can make a
difference in who gets elected
president." 1 = disagree strongly; 2 =
disagree somewhat; 3 = neither agree
nor disagree; 4 = agree somewhat; 5 =
agree strongly. "Black people can make
a difference in who gets elected to
Congress." 1 = disagree strongly; 2 =
disagree somewhat; 3 = neither agree
nor disagree; 4 = agree somewhat; 5 =
agree strongly. "If Blacks, other
minorities, the poor, and women pulled
together, they could decide how this
country is run." 1 = disagree strongly;
2 = disagree somewhat; 3 = neither
agree nor disagree; 4 = agree somewhat;
5 = agree strongly.
Political Ideology (+) "Do you think of yourself as more like
a liberal or more like a conservative?"
1 = conservative; 2 = neither/refuses
to choose; 3 = liberal.
Party Identification (+) "Generally speaking, do you usually
think of yourself as a Republican, a
Democrat, an Independent, or what?" 1 =
Republican; 2 = Independent; 3 =
Democrat.
Racial Discrimination (+) "Some people say that over the last 20
years or so, there has been a lot of
progress in getting rid of racial
discrimination. Others say there hasn't
been much real change for most Blacks
over that time. Which do you agree with
most?" 1 = a lot of progress; 0 = not
much real change.
Black Issues Democrat (+) "How hard do you think the Democratic
Party really works on issues Black
people care about?" 1 = not hard at
all; 2 = not too hard; 3 = fairly hard;
4 = very hard.
Black Issues Republican (+) "How hard do you think the Republican
Party really works on issues Black
people care about?" 1 = not hard at
all; 2 = not too hard; 3 = fairly hard;
4 = very hard.
Blacks Thermometer (-) "Now I'd like to get your feelings
toward some of your political leaders
and other people, events, and
organizations that have been in the
news. I'd like you to rate it using
something called the feeling
thermometer. You can choose any number
between 0 and 100. The higher the
number, the warmer or more favorable
you feel toward that person, event, or
organization; the lower the
number, the colder or more
negative you feel toward that person,
event, or organization." Coded 0 to
100.
Whites Thermometer (+) Coded 0 to 100.
Democrats Thermometer (+) Coded 0 to 100.
Republicans Thermometer (+) Coded 0 to 100.
Racial Integration (+) "The racial integration of schools is
so important that it justifies busing
children to schools outside of their
neighborhoods." 1 = strongly disagree;
2 = somewhat disagree; 3 = somewhat
agree; 4 = strongly agree.